


A really good friend

by Blikdelie



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Dense Adrien, F/M, Failed marichat, no reveal, she's just a friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2019-02-11 08:20:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12931311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blikdelie/pseuds/Blikdelie
Summary: Adrien introduced Kagami to his friends.Everything goes well before the well-ness of the situation begins to bother Adrien.Is that true that Kagami wants to be more than friends with Marinette? And why does it bother Adrien so much?Even Plagg isn't helping.





	A really good friend

“You like her, don't you?”

Adrien blinked at Kagami, confused at her question. Like? Marinette?  _ Like _ like? He blushed.

“Of course, Marinette is actually a really good friend.” Nailed it.

“I can't wait to meet your friend Marinette”.

 

And so, not a week later Adrien introduced Kagami to his friends.

They were ecstatic to meet a new friend. From Japan, no less!

Nino didn't stop asking questions about Japanese music. Alya was furiously taping on her phone trying to record every detail about Japanese fencing culture and Kagami’s family history. And Marinette was waving her hands enthusiastically, discussing all the aspects of Japanese fashion.

Soon Alya and Nino excused themselves and Adrien found himself in an awkward situation, where Kagami wouldn't talk to him, giving her undivided attention to Marinette, who also wouldn't talk to him because… well… because she didn't talk to him much in general. For some reason.

Adrien made up some excuse and made his leave, just to avoid further awkwardness. He wasn't even sure, if they noticed him leave.

An uncomfortable feeling settled in his gut as he started walking home alone.

 

\---

 

Adrien kept noticing Kagami with Marinette. After school, during lunch, on weekends, while patrolling as Chat Noir.

That shouldn't rub him wrong, yet it did. For some reason in a matter of days Marinette became better friends with Kagami than Adrien could ever wish for.

He wanted to spend time together with Marinette too. He recalled, she was fun. Adrien found out so much during that gaming competition and that time he got to know her uncle.

Marinette was fun and truly amazing. Talented and...

“Hey, dudes, wanna have lunch together?” Nino's voice took Adrien out of his thoughts.

“Of course!” Came Alya’s cheerful reply. She bumped Marinette with her shoulder. “What about you?”

“Sounds nice, but, um… I have planned to spend this lunch together with Kagami… Sorry, guys. Maybe, tomorrow?” She asked hopefully.

Some strange noise escaped Adrien’s throat. He only realised it, when he caught three pairs of eyes on him. Nino was staring, Alya was staring, Marinette was blushing, but still staring.

“Dude, did you just… growl?”

Well, that was embarrassing. Adrien cleared his throat.

“No way”, he laughed awkwardly. “It's just… My throat is really sore today.”

Another awkward pause.

“Weeell, I have to get going. See you guys after lunch,” said Marinette and rushed out.

Adrien coughed once more for good measure and, once again, caught his friends staring, a sly look on Alya’s face.

“We have to get going, or we're gonna miss lunch,” Adrien started, getting up and exiting the room.

“Dude,” Nino was giving him a strange look.

“Looks like someone's jealous,” stated Alya with the same sly smirk. “Is it possible that you, possibly, might like Marinette, m?”

“What? Me? Of course I like her! She is such a good friend! Why would I be jealous though?” Adrien really didn't think it was the case.

“Why not?” Alya was still smirking. Why was she smirking? “Our beautiful girl is spending time with a new friend. Said friend is cool, likes fencing, is reach and comes from a family with a history.”

The three of them stood for a moment on school steps, eyes following retreating Marinette's and Kagami’s form in the distance, before heading in the different direction.

“And apparently supports her fashion interest,” Alya continued. “But I'll have you know, I'm sure, Kagami isn’t just interested in Marinette as a friend.”

Adrien whipped his head so fast, he thought, he might have damaged his neck. Alya caught his wide-eyed look and winked. Adrien turned bright red.

“Dude, you mean, Marinette might end up dating a girl? That would be quite the change.”

Nino wasn't helping.

“So,” Alya continued, facing forward, the same knowing smirk on her face, “I guess we should be happy for Marinette. She's our  _ good friend _ , after all.”

Adrien gulped.

 

\-----

Adrien didn't know, what to make out of the information he just received.

Marinette  _ was _ a good friend. And he  _ should be _ happy for her. She was happy being friends with Kagami, and if Kagami liked her and she returned Kagami's feelings… she would be in a happy relationship.

Yes, Adrien should totally be happy for her.

Except, he wasn't.

A strange feeling of possessiveness set firmly in his gut. He didn't know why, so he assumed, that was because he just wanted to be better friends with Marinette. She was the first friend he made at school, after all, and still she was somehow shy (ish?) around him.

Why was that? Adrien wanted to know. And he wanted her to relax around him. He wanted her to gush about a new fashion magazine to him. He wanted her to have lunch with him. He wanted her to play UMS with him.

Yes, definitely he wanted to be better friends.

But how to do it?

Maybe he should approach her at school.

Adrien sighed.

A couple of days before, when they accidentally bumped into each other after a photoshoot, she was talking something about having salad or marmalade. She finally set her mind on couscous. Adrien smiled at the memory. That was cute. Maybe he could have suggested that they had that couscous together? Surely that was what friends often did?

If only he hadn't been in a hurry that time…

“Plagg, how do I become better friends with Marinette?” He voiced out loud.

Plagg choked on his cheese, then slowly turned to Adrien with an incredulous look.

“Really? You want a love advice from  _ me _ ?”

Adrien ignored the question.

“You know, she acts perfectly well with everyone, who's not me.”

“Then get some cheese and forget it.”

“And I want to know her better, but I can't, because she just shuts out whenever she sees me.”

“I wonder why,” Plagg grumbled.

“If only I could talk to her normally.”

“Well, you do talk to her normally when akumas attack. She seems perfectly well.”

Plagg realised his own mistake to late, watching with horror, how Adrien's face lit up with the idea.

“Nonononono, Kid, I was just kidding! Stop it!”

“You're right, Plagg! I can go as Chat Noir to know her better and become better friends with her!” He exclaimed cheerfully.

“Kid, stop, let's reconsider…”

“Plagg, claws out!”

“Noooo, my precious camembeeeeee…”

Plagg was sucked into the ring, leaving an unfinished piece of camembert on Adrien's desk.

Chat Noir dashed out of the window.

 

\-----

Marinette sat on her balcony, sketching silently in her sketchbook. The design was taking shape under her fingers. Marinette liked it. Maybe tomorrow she could go shopping for fabrics with Alya. Or maybe with Kagami if Alya was busy.

Her thoughts drifted off to today's events and she sighed.

Adrien seemed kind of upset when she said she was going to spend lunch with her new friend. Did he not like Kagami? No, that would be weird: he was the one to introduce her to them. Then what? Was he maybe upset that she couldn't spend time with him?

“Hey, Tikki, do you think Adrien wanted to spend time with me?”

The red kwami rose up from where she was napping in one of the flower pots.

“Of course, Marinette! He considers you a really good friend! He said so himself, didn't he?”

“Yeah,” confirmed the girl with a sigh, recalling that conversation.

She didn't want to be just a friend. But Tikki was right: a really good friend was a really good start. She could become more to him. She just needed time. And confidence. Yeah. She could totally do it.

Marinette puffed out her chest, daydreaming about how awesome that would be to date Adrien. The future was painted in pink bubbles. She reached for her pocket and fished out the lucky charm Adrien made for her. She smiled softly.

“Yeah,” she said once again. “A really good friend”.

That's when a movement caught her eye. Marinette looked up and saw Chat Noir, leaping in the general direction of the bakery.

He must have also noticed her, because he crossed the street, made a triple somersault and landed accurately on her railing.

Marinette rolled her eyes, whispering “showoff” under her breath and then plastered a sweet smile on her face.

“Chat Noir! What a pleasant surprise! What could possibly bring you here?”

“Why, Princess, this brave superhero came to visit his favorite civilian, of course!” He made a bow, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles.

“Aww, I'm so, so honored! Would this faithful knight accept a gift of gratitude from a mere civilian?”

“Oh?” Chat wiggled his brows, leaning in. “A kiss, I hope?”

Marinette pushed him back by his nose.

“Let's settle on cookies for now. Or would you like something else? I live in a bakery, after all. And you have saved me more than once during just the last month, which I'm really grateful for.”

“Cookies are fine. And don't mention it. I'm a superhero, after all. It's my duty to save civilians in distress.”

“Just wait over here, Chat Noir. I'll be back in a minute.” Marinette flicked his bell, turned around and rolled her eyes, descending into her room. This Kitty was so over the top. Yet, she was indeed grateful for him for all those times, when he came to save her while she couldn't transform.

Chat Noir was left standing on her balcony, waiting for the cookies.

He was very proud of himself.

He did save Marinette more than once and she did adore Chat Noir.

Adrien wondered, how he never thought about it before. This was so much easier than trying to approach her as Adrien. She could actually talk to him like this.

Their friendship would blossom from here. They could play and talk and discuss fashion… Chat could become her tutor in fencing. Because, of course, Chat Noir was the best fencer in Paris.

And on lonely rainy nights, when his home was especially cold and lonely, he would come to Marinette's balcony and she would comfort him, maybe pet, feed cookies and they would fall asleep together.

Yeah, that sounded like a plan.

Just as a picture of Chat and Marinette playing tag and laughing together, strangely familiar, as if seen in some anime, floated in his mind, the girl herself emerged from her room, holding a bag of treats.

“Hey, Chat Noir!” she called.

Chat shook himself from his reverie, getting ready for an evening of fun.

“I'm afraid I'll have to bid you goodbye. My friend came to visit me, she will be up here in a minute.”

A huge wave of disappointment flooded Chat. His expression must have said so much, because Marinette hurried to continue.

“You are welcome to come visit anytime you want, sorry for making you leave. It's just… I think it would be better to keep our little meeting a secret. Surely, you wouldn't like to deal with unnecessary questions from press. These are for you, by the way.” She shoved the package of treats into his hands and pushed him towards the railings. Just then there came steps from below.

Chat Noir leapt and landed on the rooftop across from Marinette's house just as Alya’s head appeared from the trap door.

“Who were you talking to? I heard voices.”

“What? Who I was talking about? No one, um… to myself! Yup, I've been talking to myself!” Marinette gave her friend an unconvincing grin.

“Mhm,” Alya eyed her suspiciously, then let the subject drop. “Okay, let's go straight to the topic! I have a new theory about who Ladybug is under her mask!”

 

\-----

Adrien sat in his room, his mood gloomy. He definitely didn't expect anyone to ruin his (presumably) perfect night with Marinette.

Seemed like it wasn't so easy to approach her as Chat Noir either.

Adrien shoved a cookie in his mouth mournfully and couldn't resist a pleasant hum. Those were good. Those were really good. The cookies he was longing to try since that gaming tournament.

Okay. Maybe, everything wasn't that bad. He still had the cookies.

Adrien took one more. It was delicious. And mood-lifting.

Adrien remembered that macaroon from Chloe’s party, the one Marinette made. That was also good. He smiled at the memory.

That was the time when he danced with Marinette. She was so close, so warm. It was a great experience, to hold her in his arms. And he learned a proper way to dance for parties. They were too far from each other at first. (Well, he was only taught ballroom dances, after all.) Thankfully, Alya had helped him do it right.

Adrien blushed a little.

Marinette was just like this cookie: she made him feel  _ right _ .

“You know, Plagg,” he voiced, “I might begin to understand your feelings towards camembert.”

The kwami turned his head to examine Adrien.

“Alright, kid. Guess, I could lend you this one,” he outstretched his paw with the smallest piece of camembert in it, “but you owe me trice as much tomorrow”.

Adrien eyed the kwami, deeply touched, but still disgusted by the smell.

“Thank you, I appreciate it, really, but I was talking about these cookies.”

Plagg flew up and carefully examined the package. Sticking his tongue out in disgust, he flew away towards the cheese.

“You like it, you eat it. I'm out,” he grumbled, swallowing another piece of cheese.

“You know, I tasted cookies before. It just seems, that cookies from this particular bakery tend to lift my mood.”

“It's the bakery, where your girlfriend lives, right?” Adrien rolled his eyes.

“Yes it is and Marinette is  _ not _ my girlfriend, like I said before.”

“Then you should date her,” came a simple reply.

Adrien froze, a blush heating his cheeks.

“W-what? Why are you saying that?” he stammered.

Plagg sighed.

“Because. If you date her. She will bring you those cookies often. Besides, you already like her, so that wouldn't be a problem.”

Plagg flew up and then down into the trash bin, holding his last piece of camembert. That left Adrien alone in his room, wondering, what those words meant.

Did he like Marinette? Of course he did. She was his friend. A very good friend, may I say. But that wasn't a solid reason to date her.

Cookies, on the other hand…

Nonono! He wouldn't let his stomach make such decisions for him. He should be strong.

So… the goal was to make Marinette bring him cookies.

And, surprisingly, this goal came along with becoming a better friends with her.

Okay. Nothing too difficult so far. Adrien just needed to work harder.

 

\-----

Marinette was putting the last touches to her design from last night. She already knew, how much fabric she needed and had her preferences for a certain type. Now she just had to find it.

She hummed quietly, sitting on a bench outside of school. She was early today. The courtyard was still empty, but she didn't want to go inside. The weather was to good to spend it indoors.

“Hey there, beautiful!” Marinette turned her head and grinned.

“Hey yourself, pretty lady!” Kagami smirked, strolling towards the bench and taking a seat next to her.

“What are you doing here?” smiled Marinette.

“Why, I came to see you, of course!” Marinette gave her a flat expression, so Kagami continued. “Okay, actually, I had fencing too early today. I was free early and came here to hang out a little, I don't have a lot of friends here, in Paris, you know. I didn't expect you to be here so early, though. What are you working at?” Kagami sent a curious look towards Marinette's sketchbook.

Marinette opened her latest design again and began explaining her ideas to Kagami, working on it at the same time.

 

\-----

Adrien was sitting in his limo, staring out the window. The school came into view and he perked up, eager to see Nino, waiting for him.

But it was not Nino, who caught his eye. There, on a bench next to school steps, sat Marinette, sketching something. And seated next to her, there was Kagami, leaning into her personal space, watching her work.

Adrien's lips set in a firm line. He wanted to be there, sitting next to her, watching her sketch. He wanted to be the one, who sees her designs first. He wanted to spend lunch with her. He wanted to bring her fabrics and then watch her wear her own designs. He wanted her to make something for him.

Adrien pulled out his lucky charm and smiled at it softly.

_ “You should date her,” _ Plagg's words came flying through his mind.

_ If only I could. She doesn't even seem to like me… _

_ Wait, what? _

The meaning of his own words came crushing on him.

He wanted to date Marinette?

But if he did, then he must…

“I like Marinette!” He cried out loud. “Oh my God, I actually like Marinette.”

“Finally,” came a snort from his pocket.

Adrien took a moment to calm down and took in his surroundings. His brain struggled to find a distraction.

The car seemed to have stopped a minute or so ago. Because Nino clearly got tired waiting for him at the steps and decided to come to the car and get him out. And he heard.

If that was not bad enough, Alya came with him. Because Marinette was too occupied drawing and she decided to spend time with Nino instead, of course. And she also heard.

Nino stood outside his car, frozen in shock, hand outstretched as if preparing to knock, and Alya stood just behind his shoulder, grinning victoriously.

Gorilla's meaningful cough took Adrien out of his frozen state. He scrambled for his bag, stammering out a goodbye for his bodyguard and exiting the car.

His face bright red, Adrien wondered, if it was too late too stay homeschooled, when there came Alya's voice.

“Soo, when are you going to confess?”

Adrien considered the question carefully.

“I think… never sounds best.”

“C’mon, dude! You're no fun!” Nino stepped in. That traitor.

“She doesn't even like me! I doubt that it's fun to be rejected!” He snapped.

Alya and Nino were staring at him in disbelief. Adrien sighed.

“Look, she never speaks to me, she avoids me on every occasion. I don't want to be dumped, okay?”

Nino and Alya looked like they were about to burst out laughing, still staring at him in disbelief (not very polite, okay?).

Thankfully, they were interrupted.

“Hey, guys!” came Kagami's cheerful voice.

That's when Adrien noticed, that they came close to the bench, where Marinette was working. He gulped.

“Hey, Kagami, how are you doing?”, Alya said, high-fiving their friend.

“Oh, you know, finished my training early today, so I came here and met Marinette. She zoned out on me while sketching though. She seemed to explain what she was doing at first but she stopped eventually.”

“Yeah, she does it,” Alya nodded, ignorant to a snarl on Adrien's face at the use of the nickname. “By the way, is our interview today still on?”

“Um… yeah. Free today. At six, right?”

“Finished!” Marinette jumped up, holding her sketchbook above her head victoriously.

“Wow! Marinette original?” Alya was at her side immediately, examining the drawing.

“You're so talented, Marinette!” exclaimed Kagami.

Oh no, that was his thing to say! How dare she!.. He needed… he needed to do something!

_ “You should date her…” _

Ask her out. Yes. Before Kagami did.

But  _ how _ ?..

“Thank you! Actually, I need some company today after school. I'm going shopping for fabrics. You girls free today?” Marinette eyed them with expectation.

“Actually,” Alya trailed off. Then lit up with an idea. “Nope, totally busy. Kagami is giving me an interview today. We start immediately after school and it will take the whole evening!”

“But I thought you said…” Kagami was shamelessly interrupted.

“The whole evening! No chance to get free early. I wonder if there was someone else, who could go with you…” she trailed off, looking pointedly at Adrien, who was shoved forward by Nino at the same time.

_ Jee, thanks, traitor. _

“I-I can come with you! I m-mean, if you want!” he stuttered.

_ Seriously? Stuttering? C’mon! You speak five languages and morse code fluently! What's the matter with you! _

Those big blue eyes grew wide and her face flushed.

“O-of course! I'd love to! I mean… Yeah, thanks!.. it's love to!”

“Jeez, just kiss already, the school is about to start!” Alix. Yup, there were most of their classmates, peeking from the school steps, a look of pure bliss on Rose’s face.

Adrien tried to gather a part of his Chat Noir confidence, turned to Marinette and winked

“It's a date.”

**Author's Note:**

> There may be a sequel, but I promise nothing. Because I'm typing on my phone (don't have a computer) and every story takes me way too long.  
> Let me know, what you think! The comments always make my day! :)
> 
> Update. The sequel is done. You can read it here: ["Mine"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13204497).


End file.
